RATINGS

Ghost In The Shell [2017] ★★

I don’t know what Ghost in the Shell purists would make of this big screen adaptation, but as someone who loves science-fiction films, I thought it was tedious. And yet, it sounds cool on the surface, with beautiful visual effects and a kick-ass soundtrack to almost validate its existence. Scarlett Johansson plays Major, a cybernetic character who also happens to be the first of its kind. Because the movie doesn’t care much for exposition, we learn right away that Major is a crime fighting machine working for a company called Section 9. To say that things quickly go out of control would be an understatement. Look, I don’t mean to dismiss the movie just because the plot is a mess. There’s plenty of good ingredients here. Plus, I’d watch Johansson kick ass in almost anything. But director Rupert Sanders lets the fun drain out of “Ghost in the Shell” only halfway through. The rest is all sound and fury signifying nothing. What starts as an intriguing science-fiction idea ends as a revenge tale that feels a lot like deja-vu. Talk about a cheat.